One Year
by IceWolf645
Summary: A new girl named Amethyst has arrived at Middleton High and has quickly become a good friend of Kim and Ron's, but when the duo find out about her dark secret, she punishes them in a peculiar way.
1. One

Kim Possible/AU Genre: Fantasy/Drama/Humor/Romance 

Rating: PG (for now)

Couples: Kim/Ron ???/???

Inspired by Mind Games 

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Kim Possible characters. I own only those created for the benefit of this story, and they will be stated before each chapter. This chapter contains only Ron's mom, Amethyst, and Rebecca as my own.

One Year 

****

***~*~*~***

**_Chill out, whatcha yellin' for? _**

**_Lay back, it's all been done before._**

**_And if you could only let it be, you would see,_**

I like you the way you are When we're drivin' in your car 

**_And your talkin' to me one on one, but you become_**

**_Somebody else, 'round everyone else, _**

**_you're watchin' your back, like you can't relax,_**

**_you're tryin' to be cool, ya look like a fool to me._**

****

**_Tell me why you have to go and make things so complicated?_**

**_I see the way your actin' like you're somebody else gets me frustrated. _**

****

**_                       ~Avril Lavigne (Complicated)_**

****

****

**Chapter One**

****

  Chains.

  Kim Possible struggled as they wrapped around her like snakes, emitting soft hisses as they slithered their way around her body. Kim screamed, unsure of how to deal with the strange phenomenon. She had been through many things before, but nothing as obscure as this. She glared at her captor, a young woman with enchanting golden eyes, the pupils mere slits, resembling those of a cat. Her hair was long and curled, colored like honey. The woman smiled, revealing strange, fang-like teeth. She laughed as she sauntered up to her captive. 

  "Kim Possible," she purred, a feral expression on her face. 

  Kim remained silent as the woman stepped back. She snapped her fingers and the chains dispersed, allowing Kim to fall to the floor. The woman placed her hands behind her back and waited, as if expecting Kim to do something. The red-haired girl did just that. She ran at the woman, preparing her body for an attack. She reached back one of her arms as she neared her and threw a punch. 

  Her arm stopped in mid-air, and the woman laughed. "Foolish girl!" she crowed. Kim struggled, but her body wouldn't move. "So, Kim Possible _can't_ do everything," the woman said, grabbing Kim's immobile arm and digging her long, pointed fingernails into it. Kim cried out in pain as the woman grabbed her other arm and pulled her forward. "Even the greatest among us have our limitations, girl," she said, releasing her prisoner's arms. Kim fell as she did so, and sat on the ground for a few moments, feeling, for once in her life, helpless. 

~*~*~*~

  Back in her bed, Kim twisted and turned, muttering soft moans and groans, and the occasional name or cry for help. Her nightmare about the strange lady twisted deeper and deeper in the night, growing darker with every moment. She cried out again and bolted upwards, her green eyes snapping open. She shot a glance around her bedroom, every bit of her being relieved to find herself sitting in her comfortable bed. 

  She peered at the alarm clock on her nightstand, the glowing green numbers telling her that it was six o' clock in the morning. She sighed. It was time to wake up anyways. In five minutes the alarm would go off, and her mom would be knocking on her door.  She flopped back against her pillow and closed her eyes. The dream still shifted in and out of her sleepy mind. 'It was just a nightmare,' she told herself. 'Nothing to worry about.' She smiled determinedly. 'I've been through worse than nightmares before!' She rested herself until the familiar knock at the door sounded and her mother peeked in.

  "It's time to get up, honey," Mrs. Possible said gently, opening the door so that a little sliver of light shone on her daughter's eyes. 

  Kim yawned. "Alright," she murmured, sitting herself back up. She stood and stretched, slumping herself against her window and peering out into the world, where the morning had just begun to creep in on the darkness. 'Five after six is way too early to get up in the morning,' Kim thought to herself, forcing her sleepy eyes open, 'especially with everything I have to go through.' She yawned again and pried herself away from the window and out into the hallway, where she could smell the beginnings of breakfast and hear her brothers' loud snores. It was the typical weekday morning in the Possible household. 

  Kim dragged herself downstairs and sat down at her typical seat. She bowed her head and nestled it in her crossed arms, half falling asleep in that position. Her mother tapped her on the back and said in her (as Kim would say) sickeningly cheerful morning voice, "Oh, come one, hun, you can't be _that _sleepy." 

  "I went halfway across the world last night to stop _another_ evil madman from taking over the world, and you say I can't be _that_ sleepy?" Kim growled from her place at the table. "I can't wait 'til the school year's over. At least then I'll have some time to myself." 

  Her mother sighed. She understood that her daughter had an immense amount of stress on her shoulders, but she was also very proud of how Kim handled it. The red-haired teenager put up with a lot of things and had responsibilities in almost everything she did. It was understandable that she'd get a little touchy in the mornings. 

  Mrs. Possible chuckled as she heard a soft snore from Kim. She'd fallen asleep at the table. The older woman smiled. There was no reason to wake her up until breakfast was ready.

~*~*~*~

  "Rooon!" 

  The blonde-haired boy rolled over and closed his eyes tighter than they had been. 'Not now!' he thought to himself. 'It was just starting to get good!'   
  
  "Roooon!!" a high-pitched voice called out a second time. When the sleeping teenager refused to wake up, two tiny hands came down on his back and began shaking him vigorously. "C'mon, Ron, you gotta get up! It's a school day, and it's already seven o' clock!" Those words did nothing to fuel Ron and the boy stayed firmly in his bed, trying his best to ignore his little sister's sweet voice.

  Rebecca clambered up and onto Ron's bed. She had only one option left. She jumped up high and fell down on Ron's side, issuing a yelp and scrambling movement from under the jumbled covers. She giggled as her brother emerged from his cocoon of blankets and sheets right before falling to the floor. "Sorry!" she chuckled as he disentangled himself. "Didn't mean to make ya fall!" She squealed as her brother scooped her up into his arms and pulled her down with him. He then began tickling her, causing the seven-year-old girl to burst out in fits of laughter that woke up the last remaining member of the room, Rufus. Rufus peered over the top of his tiny homemade bed at the two siblings, yawning in his cute little way and flopping himself back down on the soft cotton balls that made his pillow. It was time to get up, he knew, but he didn't _have_ to until Ron was ready to leave for school. 

  The two siblings made their way out of the room and split ways for a bit, Ron heading into the bathroom to brush his teeth and scrub up a bit before school, and Rebecca tramping down the hall and into the kitchen for a bowl of cereal. 

  Ron met his small family in the kitchen after a few minutes, grinning at his mom and sitting himself down next to Rebecca, who was just finishing her cereal, and who seemed to be absorbed in reading the back of the box. "Good morning," his mother said. "Sleep well?" 

  "Yeah," Ron said, "that is, until a little monster came in and jumped on my side." He added the second half in with a playful tone in his voice, to make sure that Rebecca knew that he didn't mean anything by it. She grinned at him.   
  
  "Rarr!" she growled. "I am the boogey monster, and I will never let you sleep in! Raaaarr!" She stood up and grabbed a large wooden spoon their mom had left on the counter. "Grr!" she growled, poking Ron in that back. "Grrowlies!" 

  Ron raised an eyebrow. "Growlies?" 

  "Yes!" his sister exclaimed, whapping him on the head. "Growlies! It is the evil call of the boogey monsters! Grrrroooowlieees!"

  Ms. Stoppable watched as the two teased each other. She was relieved that Ron and Rebecca had such a close relationship, especially since it made everything all the much easier since her husband had run out on them. Ron cared about Rebecca more than anything, and his mother knew that she didn't have to worry so long as they kept going on the way that they were. She smiled inwardly. They may not be the perfect image of a family, but as far as she was concerned, they were just fine the way they were. 

  
~*~*~*~

  ****

  The first of the students had begun to arrive at the school, taking no notice to the dark figure that loitered in the parking lot, watching everything from behind two amber eyes. It was easy for her to appear normal in this place, all she had to do was make a few modifications to her body and she fit in perfectly. She appeared to be a normal teenage girl with long, flowing blonde hair and the most peculiar of eyes. She ran her fingers through the soft hair and laughed. People had so long disgraced her for being different, and she had finally found a way to be the same. What could they say now? 

  Inside she was nervous. She had skipped so much during her long departure from the humans. Had she missed too much to truly fit in? She'd updated herself on the newest technologies, which included the fascinating internet and home computer systems. She had no use for them, but it was nice to know that she wouldn't be caught in an awkward moment during a conversation with some of her new friends. 

  She was absolutely sure that she would have friends. She would soon be the most popular girl in school. Wouldn't that be great? She would deny every assumption that had been made about her by those idiotic scientists. She was going to be perfect. 

  She watched as a duo of friends walked towards the school chatting amiably. She observed them further. One was a beautiful redheaded girl with spectacular green eyes, and the other a blond haired boy with freckles and brown eyes. She grinned. If she was going to make friends then she had to start somewhere, didn't she? 

****

****


	2. Two

_Homework is seriously slowing this stuff down. Thanks to all who reviewed! ^.^_ Chapter Two 

She walked up to them cautiously. Now that she was so close to them she was beginning to feel shy and nervous. Amethyst ran her long-nailed fingers through her soft blonde hair nervously. She wasn't quite sure how to begin. She hadn't had much experience with people before. "Uhm," she said quietly. It was no good. The two just kept on walking. 'Drat,' Amethyst said to herself. "Hello?" she tried again, a little louder, but not much. Her eyes became mere slits for a second, and then they extended again. 'I must get their attention!' she told herself. 'Don't be so foolish, be assertive!' She walked up to the red-haired girl and tapped her on the shoulder. "Excuse me." The red-haired girl turned and the boy looked over his shoulder. The shyness returned in full strength and Amethyst's voice lost the strength it had had the second before. "I'm new here, and-" 

The girl cut her off. "D'you need help getting to your classes?" 

Amethyst was a bit indignant about being interrupted, but she mused that the girl had just been trying to be helpful. "Yes," she said. "Will you help me?" 

"No prob," the girl said. "What's your name?" 

Amethyst bit her lip. From her sparse knowledge of the human world she had collected she knew that Amethyst was a rare name. She also knew, in the back of her mind, that she was being searched for, so keeping her given name wouldn't be a good idea. She smiled smugly as a new name came to mind. One that wasn't unusual and was close enough to her true name for her to not get confused. "Amy," she answered. 

"My name's Kim," the girl answered. Her emerald eyes traveled over to her blonde-haired friend, who had turned to face them now. "He's Ron." 

"Hi!" Ron said, grinning. 

Rufus stuck his head out of Ron's pocket. "Hi!" he echoed his human companion. 

Amethyst tensed. A rodent? Why did one of them have to have a rodent? She struggled to contain herself, but the very sight of the little hairless thing was alluring. She remembered the days of chasing the rats around the laboratory out of boredom, watching them squeal between her fingers. She shook her head. Those days were over. She smiled at the creature. She wasn't some rat-chasing freak anymore. "It's nice to meet you all," she said sweetly, keeping the smile fixed on her lips. As they turned to take her to her 'classes', the smiled dropped into a frown and her eyes quickly changed into slits. This was going to be much harder than she'd thought. 

~*~*~*~

Kim had been surprised to find Amy in all of her classes, and even more surprised to find out that the new girl was a super-brain. She seemed to think like a super-computer, belting out answers left and right. Her hand had stayed raised for most of the time in almost every class, and she was quickly growing on the teachers. It annoyed her a bit, as she was used to being the 'over-achiever', but she couldn't help but like Amy all the same. 'And', she told herself, 'it would be shallow to not like somebody over something like that.' 

A familiar musical beeping from her pocket interrupted Kim's silent musings. She reached her hand into her pocket and pulled out the Kimmunicator, which flashed and revealed Wade, Kim's 'techno-wiz' friend. "Hey Wade, what's up?" 

"Hey Kim," Wade said. "Anyways I just got an urgent message from the Genetics Club of America-"

"The what?" 

"That's what I thought," Wade said with a grin. "They're a bunch of wacko scientists like DNAmy, only they don't use humans in their experiments, just their DNA."

"So what's the sitch with 'em?" Kim asked. 

Wade began typing, his fingers running across the keyboard as quick as possible. "It looks like they lost one of their experiments, and a really important one, too." He broke off for a second. "Her name's Amethyst."

"Amethyst? Isn't that some sort of a gem?" Kim asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"Yup," Wade said. "Anyways, I bet you can't guess what the GCA wants you to do." His tone was sarcastic. 

"They want me to find this experiment and bring her back to them, right?" Kim said, placing one of her hands on her hips. She rolled her eyes. People were getting to be so predictable.

"Exactly," Wade said. 

Kim sighed. "What else can you tell me about this experiment?" 

Wade peered at his computer screen. "She's half cat-"

  
"Half cat?"

"Yeah," Wade said. "Here's a picture of her." 

The screen flashed to show a photograph of a girl who appeared to be about Kim's age, with long, black streaked blonde hair and slitted yellow eyes. Two vampire-like teeth came down a bit below her pink lips, her ears were pointed like an elf's would be, and they were lightly covered with fur the same color as her hair. Her face was oddly formed, and bulged out a bit further than a normal person's. Kim peered closer at the image. There was something very familiar about that girl. "Is there anything else I should know about her?"

"Yeah," Wade said. He grinned. "It's not something you should worry about, though. It says that she took an old spell book that one of the scientist's were studying, and should be considered highly dangerous." He chuckled. "Better watch out for some 'abra kadabra' if you spot her." 

Kim snickered. "Yeah right," she said. "Is that all?" 

"Yep," Wade answered her. 

"Alright," Kim said. "I'll look out for her." 

Wade waved as Kim switched off the Kimmunicator. She sighed. She was really getting some weird missions lately. 

~*~*~*~

Amy looked at the naco in front of her with suspicion. "Is this thing even edible?" she asked Kim, who sat next to her. 

"Of course it is!" Ron said. "I invented it." He grinned smugly as he downed most of his and handed Rufus the chunk that was left. He rubbed his tiny black paws together and began chomping into it, spilling little bits of meat and sauce everywhere. 

Amy raised an eyebrow and pushed hers away in disgust. "For some reason, that doesn't make me feel any better." 

"Soooo.. you're not eating it?" Ron asked. 

"No way," Amy answered.

"Cool!" Ron said, grabbing it and wolfing it down. 

Kim sighed and rolled her eyes. Ron was her best friend in the world, but sometimes he could be a bit too.. male. It would be nice to have some female company around besides the other members of the Mad Dog Squad.

The Kimmunicator's distinct beeps chimed again. 

Amy's head darted around like a viper's. Her eyes narrowed into slits for a split second, an action that wasn't spotted by Ron or Kim. Rufus had seen it, though. He rubbed his eyes with his paws, trying to clear his vision. "Huuh?" he squealed looking into her amber eyes. They had returned to normal. He scratched his hairless head, but decided that he'd just been seeing things. 

"What was that?" Amy hissed. 

Kim, surprised by her new friend's outburst, answered, "The Kimmunicator."

"What's that?" Amy asked, trying to calm herself down. It was obviously not threatening. 

Kim held the Kimmunicator up for Amy to see. "It's what I use to get my missions and stuff." 

Amy watched as Kim switched the Kimmunicator on and Wade's face appeared on the tiny screen. "Hey Kim," he said. Amy's eyes lit up in fascination. 

"Whatcha got, Wade?" Kim asked. 

"Information on that escaped experiment," Wade replied, the clicking of his fingers on the keyboards evident in the background. Amy moved a bit closer to Kim. "She's here in Middleton!"

"Well," Kim said, "that makes my job easier. How many cat-people can there be in Middleton?" 

"Not many," Wade agreed. "It shouldn't be too hard now." 

Kim nodded and moved her thumb to shut the Kimmunicator off. "Thanks, Wade." 

"No problem," Wade said, grinning. The screen went blank. 

"What was that all about?" Ron asked. He grinned. 

"It's a mission," Kim said. "Another weird one." 

"How weird can they get?" Ron asked. 

Kim rolled her eyes. "As weird as an escaped cat-woman with a spell book," she said skeptically.

Amy's eyes returned to slits for a brief second. How could this have happened? It was a one in a million chance! She felt her fingernails sharpen and begin to curve. 'No! I can't lost it like this!' she screamed in her head. She clenched her hands into fists and tried to calm herself. 'It'll be fine as long as she doesn't find out,' she told herself. The claw-like fingernails slowly returned to normal. 'I've just got to keep under control.' Her eyes widened again. She put on the best smile that she could. "D'you do stuff like this often?" she asked Kim. 

"Yeah," Kim said, nodding. She grinned. "Maybe you can help us out with some missions sometime." 

"That would be.. nice," Amy said, her fingers twitching a bit. 

"Cool!" Ron said. "The more the merrier." 

Rufus looked up at Amy with his big black eyes and nodded happily. "Yeah!" he squealed. 

~*~*~*~

Rebecca watched the trio walking home, dropping Ron off first since his house was closest, from the window of her bedroom. She frowned. She didn't know the other girl. Rebecca closed her eyes and shuddered. There was something odd about her. 

She walked down the steps as Ron came into the house. "Hey little sis!" he said, grinning. 

"Hiya," Rebecca said, smiling sweetly and giving her big brother a hug. "Who was that new girl with you?"  
  


"That's Amy," Ron answered, shrugging off his book bag into the corner.

Rebecca remembered the strange feeling she'd gotten from the girl. "Is she nice?" 

Ron nodded. "Yeah. She's cool. She's been hanging out with me and Kim all day today." 

Rebecca smiled, but didn't comment. She was still apprehensive about 'Amy', but if Ron said she was cool, then she must be. Rebecca skipped after her brother. She decided that she shouldn't judge her without meeting her first. 

~*~*~*~

**_True introduction of Amy, a bit of foreshadowing, and a lot more dialogue. ^.^ Hope you're all liking this!_**

****

**_P.S. Heard Sk8er Boi. Is such an awesome song!_**


	3. Three

**_Sorry about my extreme lack of KP chapters. ;.; I know I'm a slowpoke. I have been very busy. :L _**

**_About some things: This story started before Monique appeared, so she might not make it into this. ^-^; Sorry, but I have Amethyst filling the role she plays until the turning point of the fic. _**

**_A few points that need to be made now to help in later chapters are explained here. There are a few things that Kim says later on that'll clarify that. _**

**_Note: I do NOT know if that is the real spelling of Josh's last name. :L _**

**_Another Note: This is one week past the last chapter. ^-^ _**

****

Chapter Three 

****

  Amethyst jumped in surprise as the phone in her makeshift house rang loudly. "I have to get used to those stupid things," she hissed as she grabbed the receiver. "Hello?" she asked in an annoyed voice. 

  "Hi," Kim's voice said. "Did I wake you up?" 

  Amethyst grunted. 

  "Sorry," Kim apologized, "but I figured you'd be up by now. It _is_ pretty late, you know."

  Amethyst stole a quick glance at the alarm clock. It was noon. She cursed at herself in her head. "S'okay," she grumbled to Kim, yawning. "What's up?"

  "Ron and I are going to the Middleton Mall in about an hour, and we wanted to know if you wanted to come with," Kim replied. "If you just got up we'll give you some extra time to get ready."

  Amethyst yawned again. "'Kay," she said sleepily. "I'll start getting dressed." 

  "Alright, we'll swing by your house and pick you up at about one-thirty, seeya then!" Kim said cheerfully. 

  "'Kay," Amethyst replied as the phone clicked, signifying that Kim had hung up. Amethyst groaned and snuggled herself back down into her nice, comfortable blankets. Sometimes she hated being a teenager. It meant going to the mall when she wanted to sleep and being woken up by the annoying chime of the telephone.

  She slid herself out of her bed reluctantly and grimaced as she saw her reflection in the mirror. She had changed back to her accursed feline form in her sleep. She quickly willed herself to become completely human again and smiled as her reflection returned to that of her alter ego, Amy. She smiled in satisfaction and began picking out clothes to wear to the mall. 

~*~*~*~

  Amy quickly yanked her shirt over her head as someone began knocking on the door. She stole a glance at the alarm clock. It was time to go. She grabbed her purse and brushed her hair as quickly as she could, then ran to the door. She swung it open quickly. "I'm ready!" she said. Kim stood at the door. She was made up pretty well. She looked like she'd been getting ready for something important. Amy could sense the excitement coming from the red-haired girl. She smiled. "Getting ready for something special?" she asked mischievously.

  Kim blushed. "Well.. uh.. y'know that cute guy I showed you the other day?"

  "Josh?" Amy asked innocently. "Yeah, I remember him." 

  The red of Kim's face deepened a shade. "Well," she began, "I was talking to him, and he said he wanted to ask me something. He told me to meet him in the mall." 

  "When did he tell you this?" Amy asked, grinning widely. Being a teenager wasn't so bad after all. Romance was very interesting. 

  "Yesterday after school," Kim said. She smiled. "You think maybe he might ask me out or something?" 

  Amy rolled her eyes. "Duh. What else would he want?" 

  Kim shrugged.

  They were jolted out of their conversation as Ron poked his head out of the back window of Kim's car. "What's takin' you two so long? C'mon, let's get rolling!" 

  "Rolling!" Rufus echoed from his perch on Ron's head. 

  Amy eyed Kim as they started towards the car. "Did you tell Ron that this was the reason you so wanted to go to the mall?" she asked slyly. 

  Kim sighed. "No. I can't talk to Ron about things like _that_." She clapped a hand on Amy's back. "That's why I'm glad we found you!" 

~*~*~*~

  Kim's head was jerking around like a snake, searching the crowded mall for any sign of her crush. Ron eyed her suspiciously. "What's up with the nervousness, K.P.?" he asked. "You've beaten things tougher than a crowded mall before." 

  Kim sighed. "It's not that," she said. "I'm looking for someone!"

  "Someone like..?" Ron asked. Rufus looked up at Kim with his big eyes questioningly. 

  Amy laughed. "Someone like Josh Manke," she said. Kim shot her an annoyed, I-wasn't-planning-on-telling-him-that look. Amy shrugged as innocently as she could and giggled. 

  "Ah, Josh Manke," Ron said shaking his head. "The only thing to have ever defeated K.P."

  Kim blushed and walked a bit faster. "C'mon you two, let's just get going."

  Amy and Ron exchanged sly glances behind her back and followed their abashed friend. Rufus giggled, though he didn't really understand. He didn't completely get human love. 

~*~*~*~

  Kim was starting to despair after fifteen minutes of walking and still no sign of Manke. She sighed and slumped against a wall. "What if he ditched me?" she asked her two best friends. "I mean, he didn't even tell me a for sure meeting place. What if this is all just some big joke?" She glared at Amy, who was giggling uncontrollably. "It's not funny!" 

  She made a mock solemn face. "You're right. I shouldn't laugh at such an obviously serious matter." 

  Kim pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. "You sound like him now," she commented, pointing at Ron. He held up his hands in defense. 

  "Hey, I didn't say anything yet!" he stated in his own defense. 

   "Yet?" Kim asked sweetly. 

  Ron got the idea. "Err.. I meant never! I would never say anything like that, K.P." He smiled as disarmingly as he could. 

  "Never ever!" Rufus echoed, giggling cheerfully. 

  Kim glowered at the two of them, but she pushed herself off of the wall with resurrected determination and started tramping through the crowds again. Her mind was buzzing with all of the things that could have happened to make Josh not show up. She was hoping that it was not the most likely of her list, which happened to be that it had all been a cruel prank and he was leading her on. She glared angrily as someone slammed into her, sending them hurrying away with a quick, "Sorry!" Kim Possible was not in the mood. 

  "Hey K.P.!" 

  Kim ignored Ron and kept on searching.   
  
  "Stop, Kim!" 

  Kim stopped and swiveled around. "What?" she snapped angrily. 

  Ron grinned teasingly. "Isn't that who you're looking for?" he asked, pointing to the right of himself. 

  Kim's emerald eyes followed his finger in a straight line. "Josh!" she exclaimed happily. 'So it wasn't a prank!'__

  Josh waved and smiled. Kim melted. He had such a handsome smile, so white and perfect. 'Everything about him is perfect,'Kim thought absently as she walked towards him. She felt like she was floating. 

  Amy bit her lip trying to hold back the laughter. It was hilarious seeing the normally poised Kim Possible act like just another love-struck teenager. She let her own amber eyes fall on Ron. 'How interesting,'she thought. 'I wonder if he's jealous of this Josh.'Ron wasn't really paying attention to the pair that had now formed. Amy grinned devilishly. 'I wonder if he likes her..'

Kim was trying her best to look normal in front of Josh, and was doing surprisingly well considering the amount of butterflies that she felt fluttering in her stomach. "Hi," she said nervously. 

  "Hi," he responded, looking as calm and cool as ever. 

  'I wish I could do that,' Kim thought as she searched her mind for something else to say. "What's up?" she asked. 'Great. Now I sound like I'm Instant Messaging him.' 

  "Not much," he said. __

_  '_At least he does too.' Kim smiled uneasily. This conversation was going nowhere fast. 'I can't blow this!' she thought desperately. "You said you wanted to ask me something, right?" she asked. 

  "Yeah," he said. "I've been thinking. Me and you've had this 'thing' going on for awhile, so why don't we start going out?" 

  "You mean it?" Kim asked. 

  He smiled. "Why not?" 

  "Yes!" Kim blurted out quickly. 'He's not proposing!' she quickly reminded herself. "I mean.. Sure, why not?" 

  "'Kay," Josh replied. "So how 'bout we go out next Saturday? Y'know, maybe catch a movie and dinner." 

  Kim smiled. The butterflies in her stomach vanished. "That'd be great." 

  "Alright. I'll pick you up around seven," Josh said, grinning. 

  "Perfect," Kim said. 

~*~*~*~

  "So he _did_ ask you out!" Amy exclaimed triumphantly as Kim told her two friends what had gone on between Josh Manke and her. "I knew it," she said. 

  Kim nodded. "I couldn't be happier right now," she said blissfully. "Nothing in the world could be better than being asked out by Josh." 

  Ron was unusually quiet, but the two girls didn't seem to even notice that he was there. Rufus tried to listen to them, but he was getting confused, and he personally didn't see anything special about Josh Manke. He liked Ron way better. He stuck his tongue out and made a 'pfft' sound. There were times when he thought that Kim was odd, and this was definitely one of them. 

  "What movie are you guys going to see?" Amy asked. 

  Kim grinned slyly. "Does it matter? I mean, we probably won't be watching it." 

  Amy began giggling hysterically. "Good point!" she said. 

  Rufus scratched his head. There was something else weird. Why would anyone go to a movie and not watch it? It didn't make any sense! He looked up to Ron questioningly to see if he could explain, but Ron wasn't paying attention to anything at the moment. His gaze was sort of far off. Rufus decided he'd better leave his best friend alone for a while and wait until he was back to normal. 

~*~*~*~

  Kim flopped down onto her pillow that night with a happy aura about her. She had been buzzing with giddy energy the entire day. 'My life couldn't get any better than this,' she thought as she switched off her lamp. 'Nothing could drag me down now.' 

  A familiar set of musical beeps interrupted her dreamy thoughts. She quickly switched the light on again and grabbed the Kimmunicator from her nightstand. "What's up Wade?" she asked cheerfully. 

  "Got some new info on the Amethyst thing," he said. He raised an eyebrow. "You seem happy today." 

  "Tell me the info, then I'll tell you why I'm happy," Kim said. 

  "Alright," Wade said. He began typing. "I found out where she's going to school," he said. "It's almost like she's making this easier and easier for you. She's been going to Middleton High ever since last week." 

  Kim's joyful mood began to disperse.

  "It should be easy tracking her down now. Just pick out any new students that came last week. There can't be too many. Not many people change schools this close to the end of the school year," Wade said. 

  Kim put on a fake smile. "Okay Wade, thanks for the info," she said. 

  "You're welcome. Now how about telling me what's gotten you into such a good mood," Wade said. 

  Kim sighed. "I'm really tired," she lied, "I'll tell you tomorrow, 'kay?" 

  Wade eyed her suspiciously. "Alright," he said reluctantly. "I'll see you tomorrow." 

  "Seeya," Kim said as the screen went blank. She dropped it onto the stand next to her. 

  'Amy.. Amethyst.. Why didn't I see that before?' 

~*~*~*~

  **_. This is one of the chapters that I don't like writing. Too much talk, not enough action. :L It had to be done, though!_**

  **_Ah, and the beginning of the story really gets started. Next chapter will most likely be what I've entitled 'The Confront', and then my fic can go any of two directions.. I want to know which way YOU think I should go. ^.^; I'm more partial towards one of the ideas, but I'm not sure you readers will like it. _**

****

**_  Idea One: This is where I originally planned it. This would stick much closer to the original show. Amethyst will NOT be the villain she would be in idea two, but would be a source on constant bother for Kim and Ron, considering that she switches their bodies in order to stop them from taking her back to the scientists. The allotted time for the switch is one year. "A YEAR?" – Kim _**

**_If Kim and Ron don't wait it out, then she says she'll never change them back. In this scenario they choose to wait it out instead of switching lives permanently. This, of course, leads to some interesting problems, delving a lot deeper into the thoughts of the two. The first interesting thing here would be Ron having to go on a date with Josh because Kim won't let him blow it off. ^.^;_**

**_Note: The voices in this one would switch too. I found that really awkward. O.o; _**

**_There would be fluff! ^.^ Fluff is good!_**

****

**_  Idea Two: This one is more.. out there? It's a lot more original than the first idea, a lot more dramatic, introduces tons of new characters, and is very very fantasy-ish (especially considering that one of the new main characters is a Wyvern named Jakk). It starts out the same as Idea One, but in this one Kim's normal nature takes over and she chooses not to wait, not fully taking in the fact that she is in Ron's body and well.. she fails miserably. Not only that, she provokes Amethyst's sinister nature out by betraying her trust and telling Wade to contact the scientists. This isn't good. I won't tell you exactly what Amethyst does, but she becomes the main villain and does some pretty evil things, including possessing Ron (in Kim's body) so that the scientists can't find her.   
Important Notes: One of the current villains would become an important arch-villain, and one of the other current villains would help defeat the other. There would be a few deaths. It would be a lot darker than the other. And yet, there would still be fluff. I like fluffy stuff. _**

**_^-^_**

****

**_  Okay, now it's up to you guys to decide! Please vote in either reviews or e-mails. E-mail is in the profile. Voting is not mandatory. It never is and it hopefully never will be.  _**

****

**_~IceWolf~_**

****

**_  ~*~*~*~ _**

****


	4. Four

**__**

Whew.. Long break. Sorry 'bout that!   
Anyways, continue voting. It may take a few more chapters until it's over. ^-^; I'm making up storylines for both sides as I go along here.

Voting is, as far as I know, tied.

Anywho, here we go. 

Chapter Four

Kim lay in her bed, the blankets pulled up until they were covering everything except her face and one arm that hung over the side of her bed. Her eyes had lost their dreamy happiness. Josh Manke was pushed to the back of her mind, and instead a choice was filtering in and out of her thoughts. Should she turn Amethyst, who was quickly becoming one of her best friends, in, or should she pretend that she had no clue about her true identity? She gripped the edge of her bed tensely and sighed. 'What a way to end a good day,' she thought, staring at the ceiling with half open eyes. 'Maybe I should just tell her that I know,' she mused. 'We could work something out.' 

The dream she'd had the night before she'd found Amethyst shimmered back into her mind and she shuddered. There had been a cat-woman in that dream, and she hadn't been a good one. What if that was Amy's true form? Kim shook her head and tried to snuggle closer to her pillow. 'It couldn't be,' she murmured. That thing was a lot older than she is, and it didn't even really look like her. 

Kim decided that she would approach Amy the next day and, with that new resolution in mind, fell into a dreamless sleep. 

~*~*~*~

Amethyst prowled around her home restlessly. Sunday seemed like a very boring day. Ron and his family had disappeared to a place called 'church', and Kim's mother had informed her that Kim was sleeping in. She growled unhappily and leapt from her perch on the couch and to the floor. She could watch T.V., but it seemed that Sunday was filled with shows that were of no interest to her. She had tried getting on the internet, but nothing on there interested her either unless she was talking to someone. She pouted and pushed a lock of her yellow hair out of her eyes. 

A ring sounded through the air, sounding so sweet to the bored Amethyst. She grinned happily and vaulted over to the phone grabbing it off of the hook and saying in her sweetest, happiest voice, "Hello?" 

"Hi."

Amethyst's grin widened. It was Kim! "Hi, Kim!" she said cheerfully.

"Somebody sounds happy," Kim's voice said. 

Amethyst laughed. "Yeah, a little bit," she replied. "So, whatcha doin' today?"

"Not much," Kim's voice replied. Amethyst noted that she sounded a little bit distracted. "I was wondering if I could maybe come over," she said. 

"Sure!" Amethyst said in her newly acquired sunny tone. "Is Ron coming?" she asked.

Kim replied, "Probably. Church is over by now, so he'll be home soon. I'll call him as soon as I'm done with you." 

"Cool!" Amethyst said. She had listened to people saying 'cool' and had come to like the term. It was a slightly new one to her, as no one in the laboratory ever said 'cool' to anyone in such a way. She had added it to her small mental dictionary of terms that included such slang as 'sucks' and 'crap' and a list of curses that were new to her. "When'll you be over?" she asked. 

There was a small pause, and then Kim's reply came. "Probably as soon as Ron's ready if he's allowed to come. It won't be any later than twelve-thirty." 

Amethyst glanced at the clock, which now read eleven-thirty-six. "'Kay," she said. "I'll be waiting!"

"Alright," Kim said. Amethyst bit her lip and winced as her fang protruded into the flesh. There was that distracted tone again. "Seeya in a bit." 

"Bye," Amethyst said. The phone clicked, and Amethyst was left alone again, but at least she had a new thought to chew on. Why was Kim sounding so distracted? Had something happened?

Amethyst scurried to her room and changed out of her pajamas and into some normal, comfortable clothing. She made herself change back into her human form and then stalked back into her small living room to await her guests. 

~*~*~*~

Rebecca watched as Ron finished his conversation with Kim. She had concluded that they were going to Amy's house. Rebecca sighed. She still didn't feel right about that girl. 

"I'm going to Amy's house!" Ron called to his mother, who was in her room getting out of her church clothes. Ron had already done so, and was in his normal casual clothing. 

"Alright!" his mother called. "Be home by six!" 

"'Kay," Ron replied. He waved at Rebecca and grinned, receiving the same response from his baby sister, even if it was a bit reluctant. 

Rebecca laid her head back against the cushiony side of the couch as the door slammed and Ron disappeared. The awkward feeling that she was having about her brother's new friend had begun to grow. 'I hope it's just me,' she thought, grabbing the channel changer and flipping the television on.

~*~*~

Amethyst pulled aside the curtains covering her living room window and peered out, the humming sound of a car having reached her ears moments before. She grinned as she saw that it was indeed Kim's mom's car. She giddily vaulted over to the chair that sat right next to the door and waited for a knock. When it came, she opened it without hesitation and said, "Hiya!"

Ron grinned and waved, and Rufus mimicked his owner, but Kim just flashed a small, wary smile and followed her blonde-haired best friend into 'Amy's' living room. Amethyst remembered Kim's distant voice on the phone and frowned. There was something wrong with her. Amethyst sighed softly and pushed the door shut. How someone who had just been asked out by their 'dream guy' could go from the happiest mood they were able to manage to one that could only be called melancholy was beyond her. 

Ron plopped himself down on Amethyst's soft, creamy white couch and opened his mouth to start jabbering on but was silenced by a look from his red-haired friend, who sat down beside him and looked at Amethyst with very solemn eyes. "Amy," she began. "We've gotta talk."

'Amy' blinked her amber eyes and said curiously, "About what?"

"I know who you are," Kim said. Amy felt her throat clench up and her heart stop beating. 'How could she know?' she thought. She grinned weakly and laughed. 

"Of course you do, Kim," she said. She chuckled and winked. "I know who you are too." She kept the grin on her face and hoped that her friend couldn't see her nervousness. 

Kim sighed. "You know I didn't mean it like that, Amethyst," she said. Amethyst's grin dissipated. 

"Amethyst?" she asked, aware that her nails had begun to elongate and sharpen and that her hearing was beginning to increase. She couldn't control her transformation because she was stressing out. She gripped her nails into the fabrics of her jeans as she sat down hard on one of her chairs and felt them dig into her skin a bit. 'This can't be happening to me!' she screeched at herself in her thoughts. 'No one can know!' 

"You can't know!" she screamed, her voice shrill and desperate. Kim moved to calm her down.

"We don't want to turn you in," Kim said, gripping her shoulders. "We just had to know if it's true."

Ron grinned and gave a thumbs up sign from his seat on the couch. Rufus smiled from his perch in Ron's pocket and said, "Yup!" 

Amethyst narrowed her golden eyes and stared into Kim's green ones, searching them for any signs that she might be lying. "You really aren't going to turn me in?" she asked warily. 

"Of course not," Ron said, "we're buds." Rufus acknowledged his comment with a vigorous nod. 

Amethyst stuck one of her claws in her mouth and chewed on it pensively. "How do I know that you're not lying?" she murmured, eyeing the trio suspiciously. 

"You could just trust us," Ron offered. 

Amethyst continued chewing on one her claw. Every once in awhile she'd shoot a glance at Ron or Kim and search their expressions. After a while she sighed and leaned back against her chair. "Alright, you guys win," she said smiling and shrugging. "No one else knows, right?"

"No one," Kim said, smiling with relief. 

"Not even Wade?" Amethyst asked. 

"Not even Wade," Kim assured her. 

Amethyst smiled wider and sat up. "Alright, then." She slowly made her form become human again. 

Kim stood up. "Well, what do we do now?" she asked, looking to her host. 

Amethyst stood and beckoned for Ron to do the same. "I want to show you guys something," she said in her most trustworthy voice. "I mean, if we're going to stay friends than we can't have any secrets from each other, right?" 

She walked out of her living room, trailed by the curious trio, and into the kitchen, and then into the next room. It was a cozy little room, closed off from anyone trying to look in, and much larger than it seemed it should be for what looked like a generally small house on the outside. A fireplace glimmered with embers in the corner as they entered and Amethyst smiled. "This room is a result of my early training in the magics," she murmured. Her eyes seemed to glitter as she looked back at Kim. "I know you don't believe in stuff like that, but I wanted to make sure you understand how I do the stuff that I do."

Kim blinked and looked around herself. Amethyst was trying to tell her that she'd _created_ this room. She smiled. 'Might as well humor her,' she thought to herself. "Wow," she said in a voice she often only used for her odd cousin Larry and at times Ron, "this is really impressive.."

Ron, on the other hand, was totally overwhelmed. "Impressive?" he demanded. "This is beyond impressive, this is _cool!_" He grinned and walked into the room a bit further. "I mean, making yourself a room? Can you do that for me?" He trailed over to the large reading desk in the middle of the room. "Is this the spell book?" he asked curiously, picking it up and beginning to flip through the pages. "How can you read it?" He was completely baffled by the strange words that graced the pages of the thick, leather-bound book. Rufus crawled out of his pocket and up his shirt to get a better look. 

"Hmm.." Rufus muttered thoughtfully, trying to make out the odd letters and shapes. Ron fingered passed a page with a quite horrific image of a human mutating into a skeleton and the little naked mole rat yelped. "Scary!" he whimpered, disappearing under Ron's shirt. 

Amethyst seemed happy with Ron's excitement. "D'you want to see some of my magic first-hand?" she asked. 

"Uhm, I'm sure that's not necessary," Kim said quickly, interrupting the reply Ron had been about to give, walking over to him, and yanking the spell book out of his hands. She closed it and set it back down on the desk. "Why don't we just go do something somewhere else?" she asked. 

"Aww.." Ron pouted. 

Amethyst frowned. "But there's a spell that I _have_ to show you guys. I've been working on it for a long time, and I've just got it right." She snatched the book off of the desk with surprising agility and held it close to herself. "Just let me show you just this one," she said, smiling as innocently as she could manage. 

"Well.." Kim began in an unsure tone. 'It couldn't hurt, could it? She really believes she can do it..' she mused to herself. "Alright, but just this one." 

Amethyst smiled. The smile didn't quite extend to her eyes, and Kim was suddenly unsure over whether she'd done the right thing or not. She opened the book and closed her eyes, flipping through the pages and coming to a stop on a certain one about a quarter through the book. "This one," she said softly. 

Ron was excited. "So what're you gonna do?" he asked. Rufus blinked up at Amethyst with his large black eyes. 

"It's a surprise," Amethyst said. She placed the book back down and stood back. "But you guys gotta promise me one thing," she said. 

"What's that?" Kim asked.

"You can't get mad at me. I've gotta do this.." Amethyst said, her eyes becoming distant. 

"What d'you mean by that?" Kim asked suspiciously. 

Amethyst ignored her and began muttering something in a very low, growling voice. Her eyes had changed into her true form's again, and Kim was suddenly hit with the memory of her nightmare again. "Stop!" she shouted. A very bad feeling was welling up inside of her. "What're you doing?" 

Amethyst frowned. "I'm only protecting myself," she said. "No one can ever know. I'll never go back there!" 

Kim gasped. A sudden weightlessness had overcome her. She was feeling very awkward. The room began swaying and slowly began to fade away, but she didn't lose consciousness. A burning pain had started inside of her. She tried to yell out, but she couldn't. She couldn't feel anything. 'What's happening?' she screamed to herself. She couldn't see or hear anything. She didn't know that Ron was experiencing the exact same thing, and was now having second thoughts about the cool-ness of magic. 

Kim suddenly felt as if she'd been thrown at something. She fell down to the ground hard and all of her senses came back, but she experienced them for only a moment before she fainted from shock.

Amethyst surveyed her handiwork and sighed. She reached down and pressed her hand against Ron's heart. Rufus had hidden himself back in Ron's pocket and she could see him trembling within. She could feel the slightly faster, steady beating beneath her hand. "Don't you worry, little rodent," she purred. "Neither of them are in any danger." She heard the rodent squeak in protest and he stuck his little pink head out of his pocket and looked up at her angrily. She smirked. "I wouldn't do anything to hurt my best friends," she said.

~*~*~*~

Back in Ron's home, Rebecca clenched her fists and her teeth. She could feel something happening to her big brother, but she couldn't identify what. 'I should've told him about that girl!' she berated herself. 'If he gets hurt it'll be all my fault!' Amethyst's picture flashed in her mind and mutated into a creature she couldn't identify. Her eyes widened. The room she'd been in began to fade away. She saw Ron, Kim, and that Amy. She called out to them, but none of them could hear her. She watched as her big brother and his best friend collapsed, and then the image broke. She was left in her family's television room, staring at the program she'd been watching beforehand. She started to cry. 'Please let them be okay!' she begged in her thoughts. 

~*~*~*~

**__**

The 'big' thing has finally happened.

All will become clearer in the next chapter. ^_~

I'll have the next chapter up as soon as possible, but right now I've gotta sleep. 

Night night!

~IceWolf645~


	5. Five

**__**

I feel guilty. I haven't written in over a month. Way over a month. *sigh* I blame it all on Christmas vacation, Animal Crossing, Inu-Yasha, Escaflowne, and two weeks of reading and outlining a Louis L'amour book. Westerns.. Ugh.. (no offense to anyone who likes them! ^_^;)

So, after over four weeks of nothing, here is the fifth chapter to One Year. It's good to be back!

I'll try not to make this confusing. ^_^; 

Chapter Five

It was a little over an hour before either of the two best friends regained consciousness, and Kim happened to be the first. She groaned as she sat up. The room was spinning and her head was pounding furiously. She put a hand to her head and blinked a few times, trying to straighten out her vision. "Ugh.." she moaned. She was feeling very lightheaded. She laid back down against the cold wooden floor and closed her eyes for a few moments until her mind seemed back in proper working order. She opened her eyes again, and was happy to find that the room had stopped spinning. 

As that momentary confusion disappeared, the thin line that was Kim's temper broke. She fully remembered the pain she'd experienced due to Amethyst's 'spell', and she was angry. Of course, being Kim, her first instinct was to jump up, find the crazy cat-girl, and demand an explanation. Unfortunately, as she found out a second later, her legs didn't seem to want to cooperate with her. She was up for about a second before her knees gave in and she fell on her rear. She cursed out loud, and then abruptly stopped breathing. Her voice hadn't sounded right. It didn't sound like her at all. In fact, it sounded a whole lot like Ron. 

Kim tried once again. "Hello?" she said uncertainly. There it was again! That was definitely not her voice. 

Now she was worried. She looked down at herself. Familiar clothes, but not _her _clothes. They were Ron's. Kim closed her eyes again and tried to regulate her breathing. 'Okay, let's see here. Ron's voice, Ron's clothes. I am not freaking out. I am not freaking out.' Kim opened her eyes again, and looked herself over once more. 'This can't be happening!' She pinched herself and winced. It wasn't a dream. 'This can't be happening!' 

Rufus, who'd been cowering in 'Ron's' pocket while this was happening, felt the movement and popped his head out of his hiding place. He sighed in relief to see that 'Ron' had woken up. The little naked molerat crawled out of the pocket and up 'Ron's' shirt, and hugged him. "Rooon!" he cried happily. 

Kim snapped. "Nooo! Noo way! This is NOT happening!" she screamed. She stood up very fast, causing Rufus to lose his balance and fall. The little pink rodent sat up and blinked as his best friend screamed hysterically. The naked molerat sighed and slumped down against the floor. The whole world was going insane. 

~*~*~*~  


Amethyst, who'd curled up on the chair in her living room and was now diligently studying her spell book, felt her pointed ears prick up at the loud scream that rang through her house. "It's about time," she growled to herself. She closed the spell book abruptly and hopped out of her chair. She could tell from the scream that the spell had worked. She reached out to enter the room and hesitated. She knew that Kim was the one screaming, and she could tell that it wasn't a very happy Kim. She silently prayed that every part of her spell had worked, and that Kim would be without her usual abilities. She grimaced and turned the handle. 

Kim stopped screaming as she heard the door open. Amethyst poked her head in and smiled innocently. "Hi, Kimmy," she said. 

Kim's now brown eyes narrowed. "You!" she said. "You! You.. You.. I'm going to.." Kim's anger got the best of her and she started towards Amethyst. 

And tripped. 

Kim fell to the floor, and Amethyst inched the rest of her body in, thanking God for her luck. She kneeled down beside the fallen Kim. "Might wanna get your temper under control," she said. "You can't do that kinda stuff as long as you're Ron." 

Kim sat up, and glared daggers at the cat-girl. She then proceeded to grumble every vulgarity she knew, with ninety-nine percent of them directed at Amethyst. Amethyst hissed at her, and Kim shut up, suddenly feeling very vulnerable. Amethyst smiled. "If you'll just stay like that for a minute, I'll wake up Ron and we can discuss the terms."

"Terms?" Kim questioned, her eyes narrowing a bit more. 

"Yes," Amethyst said. "I've got to make sure you two don't ever get it into your heads to tell those scientists where I am." 

"We weren't going to anyways!" Kim protested. 

"How do I know that I can believe you?" Amethyst asked. "I can't take any chances with anyone. I won't go back there." She grinned. "It's not like I turned you into a frog." 

Kim didn't say anything, but her angry expression didn't lessen any, either. Amethyst sighed and stood up, then walked over to the true Ron's side. She was baffled at how he could've slept through all that screaming, and she hoped that he would be a little better about this than Kim was. She shook him lightly, and he groaned. "Five more minutes," he said, rolling over.   


"Get up!" Amethyst snapped, shaking him harder. 

Ron opened one of Kim's green eyes, rolled over, and looked at Amethyst. "Amy? What're you doing here?" he asked sleepily. He blinked. "Why are you spinning around like that?" 

Rufus stood off to the side of all this, confused out of his mind. Amethyst had called Kim Ron, right? Did that mean that Ron was Kim? That would certainly explain the episode earlier. 

Ron sat up and rubbed his eyes groggily. "Woah.." he said, falling back over from dizziness. He remembered where he was as he peered around the room. "What did you **do** to me?" he asked. "'Cause that _really_ hurt."

Amethyst turned to the wall, and made a 'come' motion at a small mirror hanging there. It disappeared from its spot and reappeared in her hands. "Cool!" Ron said as she handed it to him. "You really gotta teach me how to do that stuff, it's awesome!" Amethyst motioned for him to look in the mirror. He did so. 

"Hey, I look like Kim!" he said. He reached up and ran his fingers through the long red hair that was now on his head. He grinned. "Sweet!" 

Kim, from her position on the floor, looked at Ron like he was an idiot. The last thing that was running through her mind at the moment was 'sweet'. Ron began to admire himself in the mirror, and then started investigating the rest of Kim's body to make sure that it wasn't just the face. "I'm Kim all over!" he said, running his hands over his hips and looking down at the new parts that he'd never had before. 

"Stop it!" Kim said. Ron looked over at her and blushed. 

"Oh! Uh.. Sorry," he said. He tried to recover. "So you're me, eh? How's it feel?" 

Kim crossed her new arms over her new chest and said in a very smart-alecky tone, "Do you _really_ wanna know?" 

"Nope," Ron said. 

Rufus toddled over to Kim's body. "Ron?" he asked plaintively. 

Ron nodded. "Yup, it's me, buddy!" he said, scooping the naked molerat up in his palms and cuddling him. Rufus sighed in relief. 

"Alright!" Amethyst said, clasping her hands together. "Now that everyone knows who they are, let's go into the living room and discuss the terms!" 

~*~*~*~

"Alright," Amethyst said, seating the two 'switchees' down on her couch and taking her own preferred seat in her armchair. "This is what you two are going to do."

"We don't get any say in this?" Kim said. 

"No," Amethyst said, smirking as Kim looked about to protest. "I'm the one calling the shots here." Kim shut her mouth, but she was seething with anger, and Amethyst's cat nose could smell it. "Here's what's going to happen," she began again. "Neither of you will tell _anyone_ about me or this spell. That means you've got to act like each other as best you can, and yes, anyone includes Wade and your family." She shot a look at Kim, who said nothing, and continued on. "I suggest you guys get used to being each other pretty quick, too, since I've put the spell on you for a year."

Kim wouldn't keep silent at this one "You've **got** to be kidding me!" she cried. "A whole year? A year with Ron living my life? Ron going to my cheerleading tryouts in the summer? Ron going on my date with Josh this Saturday? Ron taking my tests and living with my family? Me doing the same thing with Ron's life? No way." 

"Would you rather I turned to into a snake or a frog?" Amethyst asked with an acid sweetness in her voice. 

"No," Kim said, "I want you to reverse what you did to us right now!"

"I'm just being safe," Amethyst said.   
  
"Safe from WHAT?" Kim asked. "From us? What d'you think we'd do to you? We're your friends, can't you trust us?" 

Amethyst sighed. "If you were me, you would understand that I can't fully trust anyone. You've never had to go through life like I have. All I am to those scientists is a lab rat. I've had so many things done to me over the years that I can't even remember what I was before." She leaned forward. "If you're really my friend, then prove it to me and wait out the year." 

"We can't do this!" Kim protested.

Amethyst smiled. "I thought Kim Possible could do anything," she purred. "That's what it says on your website." 

"But.." 

"I'm not sure I'd want to put the world in the hands of a girl who's not even strong enough to last a year in her best friend's body," Amethyst said. "To think that you would turn down a challenge as easy as this one when you've done so many other things that took a lot more strength." 

Ron looked at his best friend, who was contemplating Amethyst's words silently. He knew that Amethyst had hit home with those remarks. Kim wouldn't back down so quickly now. "Fine," Kim said. "Fine. Whatever. I'll wait this idiotic thing out." 

Amethyst grinned. "I knew you'd see it my way," she said. 

~*~*~*~

Amethyst was making lunch for the three of them, and a little bit for Rufus, and Ron and Kim were teaching each other what to do to be each other. 

"Don't talk so much like a girl," Ron said. "Try on 'booyah' and 'sweet' and stuff like that. It doesn't sound right when you talk like you do."

"And **you** talk more like **me**," Kim countered. "Let's try it." 

"Okay," Ron said. "Like, whatever!"

"I'm not a valley girl," Kim said as Ron started giggling. She sighed and smiled. It was hard to keep thinking of the dark side of things while Ron was with you. 

Amethyst walked in, carrying plates of sandwiches and potato chips with her. "You guys got the lingo down?" she asked. 

"Like, totally!" Ron answered as she handed him a plate. He grabbed the sandwich and inspected it. "Turkey!" he said in satisfaction, taking a big bite out of it. 

Kim's eyes widened as she saw him scarf down his lunch. Ron loved food, she knew that. He loved it too much for her slim body. "Ron," she said, "you're going to have to cut back on the 'snackage' until we change back, you know?" 

"What? Why?" Ron asked, crunching on a chip. 

"You'll make me fat, that's why!" Kim said. "We'll have to talk about your diet later," she said. 

"No way am I going on a diet," Ron said.

"You are," Kim said, "because you're not messing up my body." 

Ron made Kim's famous puppy-eyes look. "That's not gonna work, not for this," Kim said. "You don't have to cut down too much, we'll just have to set some boundaries." 

Ron sighed. "Boundaries. Great."

~*~*~*~

**__**

Whee! Finally done! Now I get to go on to the interesting parts. 

There're only a few weeks left to vote for where this fic goes. Get 'em in soon.

If you want to vote by e-mail, send it to me at **_EmeraldStitch627@yahoo.com_****_ as opposed to my old e-mail address. If you'd like to vote otherwise, I have an AIM SN, IceDragon645. _**

Once again, sorry for the delay. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up faster. ^_^


	6. Six

**__**

Yes I know, I am slow. So very slow. ^_^; I've had sooo many school days off where I coulda worked on this, but I've been working on a lot of stuff. 

Heather Wan pointed out a pretty good idea. I might start working with that. I COULD actually do that suggestion pretty well, but it would make for a looong fic. Anyone opposed to a long fic? 

Anyways, finally back to my fic. 

Chapter Six

Amethyst leaned back in her chair and purred happily. She was quite pleased with herself. She thought that she had handled the whole situation with a lot of grace. The new 'Kim' and the new 'Ron' had left her house a little over an hour ago. Her sharp teeth gleamed through her lips as they curled back in a satisfied grin. She could just imagine the scene at their new respective homes as they tried to act like each other. The entire time they'd been at her house they had been trying their best, but considering the differences in their personalities, it wasn't quite that easy. 

Amethyst's tail twitched as she thought, and her yellow eyes gleamed with a mischievous light. She giggled. 'This is going to be _so_ much fun.'

~*~*~*~

Kim was feeling pretty confident in herself. She had, so far, survived an hour trying to be Ron, and neither Ron's mother or his sister seemed to notice. They were eating dinner at the moment, and Ms. Stoppable's cooking was enough to put a good mood back in anyone. Kim finished off the rest of her plate as she thought, and Ron's mother immediately appeared behind her. 

"Want some more, Ron?" she asked. "I've still got a bunch left." 

"Well.." 'Ron' said. Normally Kim wouldn't eat any more than one serving or less of _anything_, but she'd have to make an exception. She was still hungry. "Sure." 

Rufus rubbed his little paws together and immediately began digging into one half of Kim's plate as Ms. Stoppable dished it out. Rebecca giggled from her seat around the table. 

"You two are such pigs," she said teasingly. Rufus stuck his tongue out, and Kim grinned a bit, more to emphasize being Ron than anything, because something was starting to nag at the back of her mind. 

'Normally I wouldn't even think of eating this much, not even if it's Ron's mom' cooking..' Kim thought, twisting the fork around on her plate. 'I'm acting like Ron without even trying.' She grimaced. 'I can't really figure out whether that's a good thing or a bad thing..' 

Rebecca watched her big brother. He was being way too quiet. She remembered the vision she'd had earlier that day, and wondered if it had anything to do with his odd behavior. She put her chin on her palm and stared at her brother, searching him for anything that might help her figure out what had happened. None of the visions she'd had before had ever been completely wrong.

~*~*~*~

"I can't believe she's beating you!" 

Jim was cracking up as Tim tried valiantly to defeat his older sister in the new fighting game they'd gotten a week before. "I mean, she's never even _touched_ our games before," Jim guffawed as Kim continued to beat his twin into oblivion. Tim's health bar went down to zero as Kim's character performed a special kick, and he groaned in utter disbelief and embarrassment. He'd never be able to live it down if Jim beat her. He reluctantly passed his brother the controller, and the character selection screen flickered onto the television. 

Kim was grinning. Tim couldn't help but think about how evil older sisters could be. She was doing this on purpose. His mind slowly came to the conclusion that she'd been practicing secretly, perhaps after he and his brother had fallen asleep, just to wipe the floor with them. She was currently doing the same thing to Jim as she had to Tim. It was unnatural. 

Of course, all of the hypotheses that Tim had just made were completely incorrect, because he had no way of knowing that inside of Kim's body dwelt her best friend. Her probably wouldn't have taken it so hard if he'd known. Ron was, after all, a video game veteran as well, and older than the twins to boot. 

Ron was having a blast. At home he'd always had Rebecca to play games with, and his mom on occasion (she enjoyed certain RPG series extremely), but it was a lot more fun having two people he'd never really played against before. He and Rebecca had gotten so used to playing against each other that it took forever for a fight to finish. 

Once again Ron's character did the obligatory victory dance, and the screen switched back to the character selection screen. Jim dropped the controller, and both brothers twisted to stare at their sister. 'Kim' blinked. "What's the matter?" she asked. 

The twins glanced at each other. Their minds share the same thought. This was notthe Kim they'd been living with for the past ten years. This was not their older sister, and to them, that left only one logical explanation.

Their older sister's body had been taken over by an alien. 

~*~*~*~

"Good night, Ron," Ron's mother called as her 'son' shuffled into his bedroom. 

"'Night," he said. Rebecca had gone to bed an hour ago, and he had been contemplating doing so himself, but there had been one thing he'd wanted to hold off for as long as he could. 

Rufus scampered into the bedroom and crawled up the side of Ron's dresser, where laid his little makeshift bed. 'Ron' wanted to do the same, but he knew he'd never be able to sleep in the clothes that he was wearing now, if he could sleep as Ron at all. He sighed and began rooting through Ron's drawers for some pajamas. Not finding any, he pulled out a baggy white t-shirt and a pair of comfortable looking shorts to serve as a substitute. 

Kim grimaced as she pulled off Ron's shirt. It was all too weird. She'd seen Ron shirtless a number of times, but it just served, now, as a reminder that she was stuck in his body. In a _guy's_ body. She knew that taking off anything below the shirt would be worse, but she'd have to force herself through it. She'd gone through the worst of the transformation, going to the bathroom, earlier that day. Seeing Ron's boxers couldn't compare to that. 

With the clothes changing over with, Kim pulled the covers back on Ron's bed and crawled in. Rufus muttered a 'g'night' from where he was, and Kim echoed it, switching off the lamp next to the bed. She spent a while trying to get comfortable. Ron's bed wasn't bad, but it wasn't the same as her bed. She shut her eyes and sighed, snuggling further under the covers until they were up to Ron's ears. She slowly dozed off into a restless sleep of bad dreams and an echoing laugh, one that sounded very much like Amethyst's. 

~*~*~*~ 

Ron was resolved not to look down at Kim's body as he pulled on her nightgown. He'd gotten yelled at for that already. It was pretty hard not to, though. He couldn't help but notice the new things about him. He sighed. Being a girl was a little bit tougher than it seemed. He hated Kim's bra with a passion, but had kept it on out of respect for her personal space. 

He frowned. Kim's room was nice, but it was missing something. He glanced at Kim's drawer. 'Rufus..' he thought. It was lonely in the room without his little pink buddy. He sat down on Kim's bed, yawned, and stretched. Kim's bed was very bouncy and fluffy. He chuckled and laid back against it, cocooning himself in the covers as was his habit. 

Ron had almost fallen asleep when a sudden crash caused him to bold upright. It had sounded right outside of his window. In alarm, he jumped out of Kim's bed and forced her window open, peering down into the darkness. Below the window were two tangled forms, Jim and Tim. They were arguing with each other angrily. 

"It's your fault the rope broke, you're the fat one!" 

"We both weigh the same!" 

"No way! You weigh a lot more than I do!" 

"Yeah right. I'm not the one who ate three helpings of dinner last night."

"It was my favorite!"

Ron leaned on the windowsill and a small smile spread on the face he was now wearing. He couldn't imagine why the twins had wanted to spy on their sister, but they were fun to watch. 

Jim looked up suddenly, and noticing Kim, made a small 'meep' sound. Tim followed his gaze and made the same sound. 

"Having fun?" 'Kim' asked, one eyebrow raised. 

"Uh.." Jim began.

  
"We were just.." Tim continued.

Their older sister smiled. "Spying?"

"Of course not!" Jim said quickly. 

Tim swiftly added, "Why would we be doing that?"

'Kim' stood completely up and said, "I have no idea, but I'd like to." 

"It's definitely not 'cause we think you're an alien from a far off planet," Jim said, smiling sweetly. 

Tim nudged him in the ribs and formed the same sweet smile on his own face. "Ignore him," he said. "He got bumped a pretty hard when we fell."

"Uh huh," Ron said in a tone he hoped sounded a lot like the normal Kim. "Well, whatever stupid little game you two are playing, you'd better get to bed before Mom and Dad catch you down there." 

The twins both nodded and bolted away. As they left, they exchanged glances again. The alien had obviously gotten better at impersonating Kim. 

~*~*~*~


	7. Seven

**__**

Okay! 

Sorry again, I know I'm slow. ^-^ I plan on getting a few more chapters up soon, though, so be patient my friends. 

It's been a good summer so far. ^-^ How could it not be with the new HP book, The Order of the Phoenix, the promise of new KP episodes, and the discovery of Naruto and Arc (DARC) the Lad on my part?

This chapter, my friends, will allude on things to come, and enlighten those who weren't sure before on just what a wyvern is. (The wyverns in my fic are different than normal ones found in mythology, though.)

I'm gonna go see Clay Aiken tomorrow! WHOOOOOO!!

Clay's inspiring. I write my best when I think about him. He's such a cutie. He's like Ron, geeky, but cute as can be and my ideal boyfriend. ^_^ I'm a Claymate. I sooo hope I get to talk to him. He must sign my CD!! I must hear 'Invisible'! Any other Claymates lurking around, feel free to say 'Hi!'.

Chapter Seven

Kim's eyes opened, but she felt as though they never had. She was in complete darkness. She held a hand up in front of her face cautiously. It seemed impossible, but she could see it perfectly, as if it was lit by some unseen light that touched nothing else. Also to her surprise, she found that her hand was truly hers, not Ron's. 

She would have been happy had she been anywhere else at the moment. The darkness that surrounded her seemed to be trying to eat away at her. When she stood up and looked down, it appeared as if she was standing on nothing surrounded by nothing. All around there was darkness, and she was alone in it.

As she turned, hoping for a glimpse of something else, anything else, her eyes caught sight of something glimmering. She squinted in the direction of the shimmer she'd seen. It was definitely there, but it was also very far away. Seeing no other alternative, she began to walk towards it. 

She could have sworn she'd heard a soft snickering floating along the darkness. A shudder crawled up her spine and she walked faster. The glimmer was slowly growing and getting a more defined shape. It took a surprisingly short time for her to be so close that she knew what it was. It was a mirror. 

She stopped in front of it. The mirror was intricately carved in gold and silver with serpents, dragons, and a phoenix that donned the top of it, wings spread high and beak open almost triumphantly. In its claws it gripped the tails of the snakes, and the dragons blew flames at them from below. Each creature's eye was a glittering gem; an emerald stood as the phoenix's eye, and garnets gave the dragons fierce, blazing expressions. The snakes had diamonds for their eyes. 

Kim turned away from the border, and looked into the mirror itself. There was nothing there. It seemed just like everything else. It reflected nothing but the darkness all around her. 'It must've been the gold border that was shimmering,' Kim mused. She reached out one finger to touch it. 

The mirror suddenly began to glow a dazzling white as she tapped it, and instead of feeling hard and glassy it felt more like water. Kim drew her finger back, and the mirror rippled. Kim watched as it hardened. Instead of resuming the darkness, it continued to glow a bright white, until finally receding into something else. Peering into the mirror, Kim saw someone at last. 

She saw someone who looked much like an older version of herself, but the creature perched on her shoulder made Kim positive that it wasn't her. It had olive green scales and eyes that were all blue, save the slit that she supposed was its pupil. A scruffy yellow mane ran down its back, ending just before the long tail. It had two bat-like wings with little clawed hands that gripped the girl's shoulders, and its hind legs were pulled up beside them. It had a long snout and tiny teeth that showed when it grinned. Kim peered closer at the creature. It had a headband wrapped around its head, with the word 'Jakk' scrawled in red across it. 

'Jakk' was speaking, though Kim was at a loss how. She moved closer to the mirror, and all of a sudden a voice broke into her hearing. "...and I think they'll be alright," he was saying. "Everyone has to do it sometime, ya know. We did." 

The girl he was speaking to sighed. "I know, but I'm not sure they're ready," she said. "You have to admit, they are sorta naive." 

Jakk laughed jovially. "Naive isn't the word for it!" he said. "New is more like it." 

The girl leaned back against the chair she was sitting in, and Jakk, almost like he'd known what was about to happen, fluttered to the top of it. "How much trouble did _we_ have when we went there?" she asked. 

Jakk laughed again. "We were hopeless. I was sure Leon was going to tell us we were destined to work at McDonald's for the rest of our lives," he said. 

The girl smiled. "Yeah, I was sorta surprised with what we got too." She reached to a chain of strange charms that was tied all around her arm precariously and touched one of them fondly. "I never would've guessed it, to tell you the truth," she muttered. She removed her finger from the charm, and Kim saw that it was shaped like a dog. Jakk had begun speaking again, but Kim had no time to listen to him. At that moment she was ripped away from the mirror. She cried out as the claws of whatever it was that had her dug into her shoulder roughly. She was swiveled around by the beast, but to her surprise she found that it wasn't a beast at all. It was another girl, one that also looked very much like herself. 

This girl, however, was very different from the one in the mirror. What Kim had taken for claws were actually long fingernails painted a bright blue. The girl also looked a few years older than Kim, and her hair was tied in a ponytail that hung down almost the the floor. Her lips were parted in anger, and her green eyes were glaring. She wore strange clothes. Kim was sure she'd never seen any like them before. Around the girl's right arm were two bands, one of bronze and the other of silver, both with turquois shapes scrawled on them. On the bronze was a tear, and on the silver a lightning bolt. Around her neck was another band, this one adorned with tiny diamonds and blood red rubies. Two rubies were just before the middle of the band, and carved into that blank spot was a serpent. The serpent glowed a mysterious red, and the band itself was pure gold. The girl spoke up, finally, in a voice so like Kim's and yet very different at the same time. It was smooth and had a powerful, demanding tone about it. "How did you find this place?" 

"I didn't find it," Kim answered her truthfully. 

The girl pursed her lips, then said, "Nonsense! Only those who can See or those who can Call can find their way here." She smiled, and Kim noticed that the lipstick she had on was blood red. "I know for a fact that you could never do either of those things," she whispered haughtily. "Neither your soul nor your mind could ever reach out beyond the normal boundaries, and I don't think you'd try if you could." 

'Those who can See or those who can Call? What does that mean?' Kim wondered.

The girl laughed. "You don't even know what I mean, do you?" she said mockingly. Kim didn't answer, so she continued. "But you wouldn't, of course. You're much too selfish to ever open your heart up to those things, and not powerful enough to do it without the help of your heart." She sneered. "Nothing you do now amounts to anything."

Kim couldn't hold herself back at that point. "I do a lot more than most people," she growled. 

The girl laughed, and Kim had to wince from the pain that suddenly filled her. "What do you do, Kimmy? Do you think that by defeating those dimwitted numbskulls you are making some sort of a difference? Those people who proclaim their villainy so openly are nothing to those that lie low, waiting for the right moment to strike," she said, her laugh ringing in the endless darkness again. "One day you will fall to something you never even saw coming. You will be defeated by someone who outmaneuvered you. You're not that good, Kimmy. You've never been in a real fight before." 

Kim tried to protest, but all that came out was a pained shriek, because at that moment the blue nails of the girl broke into her skin. A burning sensation swept through her body, and she was falling to her knees. For some reason it seemed like a very long fall. 

~*~*~*~

Kim awoke abruptly as she landed hard on her back, entangled in sheets and covers. She fought with them for a second and finally escaped from them, crawling out onto the floor of Ron's room. The sun glinted through Ron's window, and illuminated Kim's hand, which was now, once again Ron's hand, and was trembling slightly. 'That wasn't an ordinary dream,' Kim thought, pulling herself back up onto Ron's bed, trying to ignore the fact that soon she'd have to wake up anyways. 'It felt so real,' she thought, pulling Ron's covers back up. 'Could it mean something?'

She gave up trying to fall back asleep after about fifteen minutes of trying to find a good position on Ron's bed. It wasn't half as comfortable as her own. Finally she stood up, yawned, then stumbled out of Ron's room and into the bathroom.   
  
She looked as disheveled as she felt inside; Ron's hair was sticking up in odd spots and his eyes were slightly bloodshot. She sighed and began to clean up. 

About halfway through brushing Ron's teeth Rufus toddled in, yawning cutely and leaping up beside Kim to brush his own teeth with a very tiny toothbrush and a speck of toothpaste. Kim wondered vaguely where Ron had gotten the toothbrush, but her mind was alive and still buzzing with other things. Things floated through her consciousness, such as 'What could that dream have meant?' and 'Thank heavens school's out soon' and 'I can't believe I'm stuck like this!' and 'I was supposed to go out with Josh on Saturday!'. After getting dressed and finally ending up in the kitchen, she slumped her head down onto the table like normal, and was totally unprepared for the giddy little creature that came bounding into the room moments later.   
  
"Morning, Ron!" Rebecca crooned happily as she swung herself down into the seat opposite Kim's. "You didn't stay in bed long enough for me to wake you up this morning, where's the fun in that?" she said, poking her 'brother' on the top of his blonde head. 

Kim looked up slowly. Rebecca was beaming happily at her from across the table. Her smile made Kim feel a little less tired. "Sorry, sis, couldn't get back to sleep," she said, sitting up and smiling back at the girl. 'I wish I had a little sister,' Kim thought. Rebecca was so cute and sweet. She was always energetic, and her energy seemed to radiate from her and into everyone around her. You couldn't help but smile when she was around. 

Ron's mother was bustling around the kitchen, and soon had breakfast made for everyone. Kim ate her bacon, eggs, and toast and finished off her orange juice quickly, despite the lingering feeling of lethargy in her. She wanted to get to school as quickly as possible to talk to her best friend and ask about how his night had been. 

"Leaving already, Ron?" Ron's mother called from the kitchen, where the sound of running water could still be heard along with the occasional clink of a dish. Kim was stuffing Ron's books back into his backpack and Rufus was scampering up her pant leg and into her pocket. She felt him snuggle into its depths and heard a contented sigh from him.

"Yeah," 'Ron' answered. "I've gotta talk to Kim about something."

"Okay, dear," Ron's mother said. "Are you coming straight home after school, or are you going to Kim's house?" 

While tying Ron's shoes, Kim answered, "I might go to Kim's, but we'll probably be at Amy's house."

"Just call me when you get there," Ron's mother said. 

"'Kay, Mom," Kim answered, tugging the last of the knot into place and opening the door to leave. "Seeya later!" 

~*~*~*~

Kim's mother watched her daughter closely. Something wasn't right. Kim had woken up before everyone else, and she wore a bright smile on her face. She was humming as she sat at the table awaiting breakfast, her eyes not even hinting at any weariness. 'Kimmy's not usually such a morning person,' Kim's mother mused silently, moving aside as her two sons came running through the kitchen rowdily. 'I wonder what happened to make her so happy.' 

It wasn't that this was an unwelcome change. In fact, it made breakfast that morning a whole lot better to see her daughter so cheery. There were, however, other changes in other people that morning. 

The twins were armed with what looked like squirt guns as they stalked into the room, and Kim's mother was very wary of what might be in them. They hadn't taken them outside to fill them up with water, that was for sure. "Jim, Tim, what in the world are you doing with those?" she asked as they proceeded to point them at her daughter, who looked up from her meal and blinked.

"We're going to use them to annihilate the evil alien that's invaded Kim's body," Jim said, making sure that his aim was direct. 

"Now boys," Mr. Possible said sternly, "there's no alien in your sister's body."

"Yes there is!" Tim exclaimed, glaring at the girl in question. 

"There has to be!" Jim piped in.

"Normal Kim couldn't have beaten us in a video game **ever**," Tim stated. 

"And normal Kim would never be so happy at breakfast," Jim said pointedly. 

Kim's mother took the opportunity to speak up. "I **have **been wondering about that, Kimmy," she said. "What's gotten you so sunny this morning?"

'Kim' was tracing a circle on the table with her finger, and now had a very embarrassed look on her face. "Well," she said, "you know Josh Manke? That really cute guy that I like from school?" 

Kim's mother's eyes lit up. "Yes?" she inquired. 

"Well, he kinda asked me to go on a date with him this coming Saturday," 'Kim' said, blushing. 

"Really?" Mrs. Possible said. "No wonder you've been so happy!" 

Mr. Possible abruptly tuned out of the conversation. He coughed and picked up the newspaper, pretending to read it while his mind buzzed with reasons his daughter shouldn't be going on this date. Meanwhile, the twins looked dumbfounded. The nozzles of their squirt guns now pointed at the ground and dripped out an ugly green substance slowly as they both stared at their sister.

"So you're not an alien invader?" Tim asked. He sounded disappointed. 

"No, I'm not an alien invader," Kim said, laughing. 

The twins trailed out of the room unhappily. They had been looking forward to the battle with the alien in their sister's body. They had already both imagined it. It would've been a heroic battle, in which they would have narrowly escaped being possessed by aliens themselves and would have saved their parents, who were far too old for possession by such beings, from certain doom. 

~*~*~*~

"Bye, Dad!" 'Kim' called as Mr. Possible drove off down the street to drop off the twins. 'Kim' shook her head as she thought about today's little breakfast adventure, and laughed openly as she headed towards the school entrance. 

"What's so funny?" the real Kim asked as her best friend approached. She'd been waiting for almost twenty minutes. 

Ron laughed again. "It's your brothers! Those two are nutso. They thought I was an alien invader just 'cause I beat 'em at one of their fighting games a few times," he said. "They tried to shoot me with squirt guns full of 'Alien Repellant' at breakfast this morning." He shook his head and said, "Then your mom was getting suspicious of me because I was happy this morning. I had to tell them that it was because I was going out with Manke." Ron made a face at this, one that Kim quickly covered up. 

"You idiot! What if he sees you do something like that? He'll think that I don't really like him," she hissed angrily. 

Ron stuck his tongue out at her, and said, "Well, don't let anyone hear you talking about liking hims either." 

The next few moments passed in silence as the two sat on the edge of the sidewalk watching people file into the school. The quiet that surrounded them and left them with only their thoughts was unbroken by the chatting of the various groups that headed into the building. 

"Hey," Kim said suddenly. "I've got to tell you about this dream I had last night. It was totally weird." 

Ron looked curious. "What kind of dream was it?"

"Well," Kim began, but she was cut short as a happy voice trilled across the schoolyard. 

"Helloooo you two!" 

Amethyst bounded up to them, plopping down at Ron's side and grinning at the two of them gleefully. Kim was annoyed by her arrival. She had this nagging feeling in the back of her head that told her not to tell the cat about her dream. 

Ron turned back to Kim. "Well?" he said. 

"I'll tell you later," Kim muttered, just loud enough so that only he could hear. 

~*~*~*~

**_That's it for today! Next time on One Year: Kim and Ron's first day of school as each other. ^-^ _**

I gotta go to bed now, because I've got a concert to go to in the morning! Goodnight, y'all!


End file.
